Professing of Faith….

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I have been told by some that when one professes one’s faith, they are “saved” as in salvation. This is line with the protestant theory that one is saved by faith alone.

However, not all faith will saves as only faith in Christ that leads to fruits of good work will. How would anyone who desire Christ and “saved” by Him not do any good works?

This really makes me wonder…. How can faith saves when it has nothing to show (at the time of professing)? I.E. no fruits yet? It would have made more sense if they are saved when there are fruits to show….when they meet the Lord at the Last Judgement.

Then again, who decide and judge that one is saved when one professes ones faith? Ourselves ? Our pastor / priest? Or is that the right of God? How did one come to claimed that one is “saved”?

Another flaw of claiming being “saved” when professing faith is that some may not really want to follow Christ…..a mere act that is at the spur of the moment……will such people be “saved” when professing their faith and then “unsaved” again later when they bear no fruits?

Being saved when one professes one’s faith seems quite unlikely in my opinion….what about you?

Willing servants of the Lord

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This is the 3rd Ordinary Sunday and the readings are as follows:
[Jonah 3:1-5, 10], [1 Corinthians 7:29-31], [Mark 1:14-20]

Firstly, Gong Xi Fa Cai !

This week, we celebrate the conversion of St Paul and we are challenged to ask ourselves – are we willing servant of the Lord?

Christ died on the cross for us so that we can receive salvation of God. Jesus died with open arms because He wants to embrace the entire human race….to save as many people as possible…in fact everyone.

In Christ, we are united as one family of God with Christ as our head and we need to bring more people to Jesus. This week’s reading tell us how Jesus invited the apostles to follow Him…and they did so immediately.

How about us? Who invited us to follow Him? Perhaps, our parents or loved ones….

Do we invite others around us to follow Christ?

We need to remember that Jesus call on us to share His Word with everyone. We need to do so immediately and not like Jonah who was reluctant to do his mission. Let us be willing servants of the Lord. Let us go that extra mile for the Lord to bring God’s peace to people who need it. We thank God for giving us the strength and grace to do His work.

And once again, Gong Xi Fai Cai to those who celebrate Chinese New Year which explains why this post came late....

2nd ordinary Sunday - “Respond to God’s Call”

Image by Lawrence OP via FlickrThis week's reading as follows:
[1 Samuel 3:3-10,19], [1 Corinthians 6:13-15,17-20], [John 1:35-42]

In this week's reading, we see how Samuel responded to God’s call. John, Andrew, Peter and the other disciples responded to our Lord’s call. How about us?

In the Gospel reading, John the Baptist is able to identify Jesus as the Messiah and point his followers to Him. And we also see how Jesus invite them to “come and see”…. Are we also pointing out to people around us that Jesus is the Messiah and that they too, should “come and see”?

Being a Christian is about living out our faith of love as God has loved us. Reading the bible gives us inspiration and our sources of goodness and strength. The Holy Spirit helps us make changes in our lives through our faithful prayers. With God, we can live a life of love and share the joy of knowing Christ with others.

How can we attract people to “come and see” ? It is through our kind words and helpful deeds, others will come to know that we are Catholics. They will yearn to know Jesus and may even want to attend Mass on Sundays. Let us invite them to ‘come and see’.

Baptism of the Lord

Image via WikipediaThis week, we celebrate the baptism of the Lord and the reading are as follows:
[Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7] [Acts 10:34-38] [Mark 1:7-11]

Last week, we celebrated the Epiphany Of The Lord where God reveals to us our saviour by a star. The 3 wise men followed the star and found our Lord.

This week, we celebrate the baptism of our Lord. The significance of this baptism scene is when the Holy Spirit comes down when Jesus came out of the water and a voice from heaven spoke: 'You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.'

At our own baptism, the Holy Spirits also come upon us and God too will treat us as His children, His beloved and His favour will rest on us too though we do not hear any voices then. If we believed that His favour rest on us too, we should strive to follow Jesus and be His true disciple which is to love God and to love our neighbour.

The baptism of the Lord reminds us that we are richly blessed in the Catholic Church by the Sacraments that the Catholic Church has instituted for God’s people.

These sacraments consecrate us in God’s grace and unite us with God.

We remember God’s steadfast love for His people and God’s covenant made with His people. Jesus is present in every of these Sacraments and he is given to us freely.

The baptism of the Lord showed us that Jesus was strengthened by God. We too can and need to be strengthened by God.

We need to overcome our human weaknesses by receiving the sacraments faithfully. That is the only way to keep the evil one at a distance. Like Jesus who is able to reject Satan and his temptations.

So, do you still want to reject the Sacraments?

Well, this officially put an end to our Christmas season and begin the new ordinary time. Hope that we all can reflect and make good use of the Sacraments that is given to us freely by God.

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• Epiphany Of The Lord

Are you in the 7%?

Image via WikipediaA holy man was  having a conversation with God one day and said, 

'God , I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.'

God led the holy man to two doors.

He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in.

In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.

The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished.

They were holding  spoons with very long handles, that were strapped to their arms and each found it impossible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful.

But  because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.  

God said,  'You have seen Hell.'

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the  first one.

There was  the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water.

The people  were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but  here  the people  were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man  said, 'I don't understand..'

'It is simple,' said God . 'It requires but one skill.

You see  they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only  of themselves.'

Its estimated 93% won't forward this.  If you are one of the 7% who will, forward this with the title  '7%'.

I'm in the  7%

Remember  that I will always share my spoon with you  !.  

How Great Thou Art by Carrie Underwood

Great song, great singer and how great is our God!

Epiphany Of The Lord

Image via WikipediaThis week, we celebrate the Epiphany Of The Lord and the readings are as follows:
[Isaiah 60: 1-6] [Ephesians 3: 2-3, 5-6] [Matthew 2: 1-12]

What is the Epiphany Of The Lord?

Originally it was the Christmas feast of the Eastern part of the Christian Church. In the Western part the stress of Christmas was and is on the birth of Christ as the little human child.

In the Eastern part the stress is more on Jesus coming as the Lord and Saviour of all. This is the reality the liturgy stresses today: Jesus came to save and bring life to all. No one is excluded, no one is a stranger to him. May all come to know Jesus, alive here among us.

In the readings today, we see how the Magi (probably from Persia) followed the stars and found baby Jesus whom they came to pay their homage. There is a very important significance in this as the Magi are gentiles. This really means that God’s salvation plan is for all and no one is excluded which remind me of Jn 3:16 which so many of my protestants friends loved to quote. God indeed send His only Son to save the world and not only Christians.

God has given us Jesus Christ as the Gift who brings light to our dark world Jesus is born for us – He brings the joy, peace and hope to the world that needs them so badly.

How about us? Are we a light to our family members, relatives and friends?

By being a loving, gentle and kind person to our family members, relatives and friends we too can bring joy, peace and hope to them.

Another aspect to note is that in celebration of the Eucharist that we remember that Jesus offered the Gift of Himself to God. He is offered for our salvation. Thus by following the teachings of Jesus, we can also offer ourselves as near perfect gifts to God our Father.

Pope prays for peace in Gaza

Image via WikipediaPOPE Benedict XVI on Thursday said he hoped 'violence, hatred and mistrust' would not prevail in the world in 2009, notably in the Middle East.

'Violence, hatred and mistrust are also forms of poverty - perhaps the greatest - that must be fought,' the pope said during a mass marking the Roman Catholic Church's traditional January 1 World Day of Peace, on the theme of fighting poverty and building peace.

Wearing white vestments and a gold mitre, the pope said: 'The deep desire to live in peace ... rises in the hearts of the great majority of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, once more placed in danger by the massive violence that has broken out in the Gaza Strip in response to other violence.'

'May this not prevail,' urged the pope, who may travel to the region next May, during the mass in St Peter's Basilica.

Pope Benedict had on Sunday denounced the violence between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, calling on the international community to help both sides abandon 'this dead-end road'.

The death toll from Israel's blitz on Hamas in Gaza rose to 400 on Thursday, the sixth day of its biggest military operation against the Palestinian territory in decades. Hamas also fired rockets into Israel as international efforts to secure a truce foundered.

The Vatican has yet to confirm that the pope will visit Israel and the occupied territories, reportedly set for May 8-15.

Last month a spokesman for Israeli President Shimon Peres said a Vatican delegation had come to Israel to discuss preparations for a possible visit.

The 81-year-old German pope also recalled his annual message for World Peace Day issued three weeks ago, in which he lambasted the global financial industry for creating an economic crisis with short-term thinking.

Pope Benedict warned that a number of low-income countries are marginalized from the world market.

He also accused rich states of holding poor countries hostage over fatal diseases, criticising global efforts to prevent the spread of malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS, which he said were a common cause of poverty.

And he condemned an 'unacceptable' arms race at a time when the world is marking the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. -- AFP